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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add... (More)

About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in addition to writing editorials for more than 15 years. I have served as a director of many non-profits in the Valley and the broader Bay Area and currently serve as chair of Teen Esteem and on the advisory board of Shepherd?s Gate. I also served as founding chair of Heart for Africa and have travelled to Africa seven times to serve on mission trips. My wife, Betty Gail, has taught at Amador Valley High (from where we both graduated) since 1981. She and I both graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as did both of my parents and my three siblings. Given that Cal tradition, our daughter went south to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in international relations. Since graduation, she has taken three mission trips and will be serving in the Philippines for nine months starting in September. (Hide)

The valley needs strong leadership on BART board

Uploaded: Oct 17, 2017

Livermore Valley political leaders are facing a crucial period dealing with the BART board and plans to extend service to Livermore.
That’s in addition to BART’s refusal to accept $20 million in state funding obtained by Assemblywoman Catharine Baker to build a long-promised second parking garage at the Dublin-Pleasanton station.
Taking them one at a time.
BART has been circulating the draft environmental impact report that lists several options for extensions to Livermore ranging from the traditional BART service, to self-propelled light rails or express buses. Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, who has been working on transportation issues throughout his more than 20-year tenure on the board, drafted a letter that urged BART to work with the new joint powers agency to identify and potentially build a connection between BART and the ACE trains. That’s the key to providing options for commuters.
That only happens efficiently if BART goes all the way to Greenville, not to a terminal station at Isabel Avenue. The bill creating the association, co-authored by Assemblywomen Baker and Susan Eggman of Stockton, was signed by the governor last week. The bill was watered down significantly from its original version to build bi-partisan support and limit opposition. Despite BART’s opposition, it passed without opposition in both houses.
To accommodate BART tracks in the median would require shifting I-580 north into Dublin, an impact that will be a cost of the extension.
Meanwhile Livermore objected because the plan only extends the tracks to Isabel and would include a service yard—an addition that Livermore council members believe would mean an end to the Greenville extension.
BART owns land in both locations because former director Erlene DeMarcus, who was the driving force in the first extension into the valley, worked effectively on the BART board and convinced them to purchase the parcels.
That brings us to the new parking structure at the Dublin/Pleasanton station. Dublin Vice Mayor Don Biddle wrote an opinion piece in the East Bay Times pointing out that five members of the BART board refused to accept the state money for a second parking structure that has been planned for more than a decade. Instead, the majority opted for more study that included restriping the parking lots and a screwy car elevator system. As Biddle wrote, the striping should have already been done given that the parking is full by around 7 a.m. most mornings.
The second parking structure was a key part of the transit village plan that Dublin approved years ago. As Pleasanton officials have pointed out, the transit village on the BART lot was the basis for the high-density, transit-oriented projects that they approved across the street from the station.
The core problem is simple: the valley’s director, John McPartland, is ineffective. He cannot get his fellow directors to accept a free $20 million from the state nor is he likely to convince a majority that the agency needs to connect BART with ACE. BART opposed the joint powers bill.
It’s no secret that when the valley has been represented by an effective director, good things have happened. DeMarcus got lots done during her one-term tenure, while Dublin’s original mayor, Pete Snyder, was the driving force in getting the West Dublin station built.
McPartland says the right things, but has delivered nothing. The valley needs and deserves an effective BART director. Our valley is at the end of the line, far from San Francisco and the inner East Bay.
Making directors from those areas aware of the critical importance of the valley as the gateway to both the Oakland/San Francisco area and the South Bay as well as the key corridor for the Port of Oakland may adjust some thinking and change some votes.

Posted by DKHSK,
a resident of Bridle Creek,
on Oct 18, 2017 at 6:06 amDKHSK is a registered user.

You don't need a second parking structure if the extension to Livermore is built. It's no secret that there are some that drive in from parts east of here and park in the garage. If you build the new Livermore station, they will park there instead.

Why our local politicians and quasi-politicians are so slow to act on building the darned extensions is beyond me. They can build a "super" train from no-where to no-where, but they can't build a mass transit line down the middle of a freeway.

I'l go you one better, and as a small-governement citizen I'm shocked at saying this, but I think EVERY freeway in the SF Bay Area should have BART running right down the middle. Given the geography of the bay itself, you could have spur lines of busses running to the various business parks that are near all the freeways. This is a worthwhile project.

Posted by highdiver,
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood,
on Oct 18, 2017 at 9:47 pmhighdiver is a registered user.

As a 47 yr resident, I remember when transportation out of the Valley was not a big problem. I even remember when 58O wasn't completed. A few thoughts, BART is not really concerned with our Valley, ridership governs. In your article you don't mention Robert Allen a former Bart Board member from Livermore who I thought did more for our Valley than DeMarcus ever did. When the Stoneridge Mall dies there will be a lot parking available, even now a portion of Stoneridge could be use for Bart parking. Bart should consider buying a portion of the Stoneridge unused parking area. In my city, Pleasanton, we continue to build residences with no thought of the consequences, someday I hope that will change.

Nominations due by Sept. 17
Pleasanton Weekly and DanvilleSanRamon.com are once again putting out a call for nominations and sponsorships for the annual Tri-Valley Heroes awards - our salute to the community members dedicated to bettering the Tri-Valley and the lives of its residents.